EPAA National EA Conference

EPAA UK is delighted to be relaunching our national conference specifically for EPAA members only.

Please note this conference is now fully booked! If you are an EPAA member who wishes to attend please email generalenquiries@epaa.org.uk to join the wait list.

Our conference has a dedicated learning and development focus, with no sponsors or partners, no trade shows and even more importantly no selling!

This one day conference is designed to foster the exchange of actionable insights and move Business Support Professionals into a more futuristic and strategist sphere.

Part of our remit at EPAA, is to ensure the long-term employability of our members and Business Support Professionals more widely across the United Kingdom. We do this by undertaking our journey of professionalising the UK profession and ensuring UK businesses and employers needs are met, via the support services our members offer.

There are many aspects to this journey, which include equipping our members with the latest updates, knowledge and resources to remain credible and in front.

In recent years, the EA/PA career landscape has changed for many already and this will continue to be an ongoing trend. It could be you are newly in post, facing redundancy or looking to take the next step in your EA/PA career.

You could be asking yourself where you sit within the profession vs other professionals and unsure of the next steps to take.

This member conference will go through every facet of what it means now and in the immediate future to manage your career as an Business Support Professional. You will leave armed full of resources, best practice guidelines and relevant advice, to clearly define and manage your career and thinking going forward.

WHY ATTEND?

Dynamic, provocative and relevant sessions on trends influencing the future of the Business Support Profession in the UK

Gain greater confidence in how to move your career along to the next stage

Learn how to manage emotional intelligence in the workplace

Add greater and more meaningful impact with the support service you provide

Dedicated networking opportunities with EPAA members

Be part of the conversation and thinking around the future of the UK profession

No selling, no partners, no trade show!

INCLUDED IN THE DAY:

Electronic certificate of attendance

10 EPAA CPD credits awarded to members on CPD programme

Drinks refreshments (please note lunch is NOT included and at own cost)

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PROGRAMME

08.15-09.00

Registration Open – Networking & Refreshments

09.00-09.15

Welcomes and Conference Open

Victoria Wratten – EPAA Founder

09.15-09.35

National Apprenticeship Service Update

Tracey Theo

Intermediary Engagement

Education and Skills Funding Agency – National Apprenticeship Service

09.35-10.35

Improving Cyber Security for EAs and PAs

Dr Monica Seeley, Mesmo Consultancy

Where is the weakest link in any organisation’s cyber security programme? Every business deploys a raft of technology to reduce the risk of a cyber attack, yet we the users are often unwittingly the weakest link. We inadvertently leak our own confidential information and use passwords which are easy to crack. The cyber criminals are so clever it is very very easy to fall prey to them. Furthermore, now there are implications under GDPR if a cyber attack occurs.

In this masterclass we explore how to improve awareness and what personal actions can be taken to reduce the likelihood of a cyber attack. Specifically:

Effective email management (eg spotting unusual emails and use of the Out of Office Message).

10.35-11.05

Victoria is millennial, a former EA and one of less than a handful of millennial EA trainers worldwide!

Managing up is a skill that every employee needs to learn, but none more than the role of the Executive Assistant.

Whilst many EAs do exceed at this and deliver it well, many don’t through lack of confidence, decrease in morale of the role or generally not feeling as an integrated part of the Management Team.

This lively and interactive presentation will see Victoria share her thoughts and expertise on utilising the basic essential skills of ‘Managing Up’, whilst also taking into account incoming leaders – Millennials or commonly known as Generation Y and the changes they will want to make from the more traditional support service.

Victoria has spent time understanding and learning more about her own incoming generation of millennial leaders and what they need from Business Support Professionals going forward. It is different and exciting!

11.05-11-35

Break

11.35-12.40

You wouldn’t have made it to the level you are in your career, without using your Emotional Intelligence, but how do you take those skills and and move this to the next level of supporting your Executive?

In this session, we will look at your strengths and using them to your advantage, and how to improve those areas where you might be lacking and is stopping you from being the best Assistant you can be.

Our role puts us in the perfect position to influence others and the workplace. We will discuss managing those difficult conversations, dealing with change and how to manage a toxic workplace.

We will also take a look at the darker side of emotional intelligence, how people use EI to manipulate others, and how to counter this.

This session will provide tools to take back to your organisation, as well as helpful tips and tricks to maintain a healthy perspective on your own emotional well-being. Through leadership and emotional intelligence, EAs can help cultivate an Emotionally Intelligent organisation.

12.40-13.50

Lunch is not covered by the Association for this event. However, close to the conference venue is Tottenham Court Road, where you can find multiple coffee shops, eateries and supermarkets.

13.50-15.00

How to remember more names

Jordan Harry, StudyFast

We use technology every day for both our personal and professional life, however, people buy from people.

Jordan’s talk will explore how to improve your memory and this being essential to being an effective EA and harnessing business relationships.

The following will be covered during Jordan’s talk:

Why remembering someone’s name is so powerful

How to remember more names and key information

What impact that has on an individual or customer

Remembering someone’s name is the best compliment you can give them!

15-00-15.30

Break

15.30-16.30

Proving you are adding real and sustained value to your organisation through your Executive Support Service

Adam Fidler, Principal of the Adam Fidler Academy

In this inspiring presentation, Adam Fidler continues to analyse how PAs and EAs continue to remain relevant in the modern commercial world. Packed with illustrations and examples from progressive organisations, he builds on his perspectives and challenges facing business support professionals, with practical strategies to enhance personal effectiveness and sustained value as ‘Executive Support’.

Adding wider organisational value as an EA – why?

Case studies from organisations who view the EA role so very differently!

Efficiency versus effectiveness – a reminder of the difference.

Measuring EA performance: how do I know I’m doing a great job?

Goal setting for optimum results – a Three Step Model to set relevant objectives.

Building a value-adding alliance with your Executive(s): the Four Energies of Leadership you can build on to enhance leadership, influence and credibility.

16.30-17.30

Keynote Speaker – The Rt. Hon Lord (David) Blunkett

Blind since birth and describing not being able to see as simply ‘an inconvenience’, David Blunkett became one of very few blind MPs to reach the front bench and Cabinet. He chaired the Labour Party nationally and managed education and employment in Tony Blair’s first government.

As well as giving an insider’s view on the political landscape, David talks with authority on managing change, today’s leadership and how to overcome adversity.

17.30-17.45

Charity Prize Draw and Conference Close

Please note in addition to asking all delegates to bring items with them for the Trussell Trust Food Bank, we are also running a charity prize draw to raise further funds.

SPEAKERS

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

The Rt Hon. the Lord (David) Blunkett

Lord Blunkett has served in public life for over 40 years. From Leader of England’s fourth largest city to Home Secretary at the time of 9/11 he has taken on some of the most challenging roles in politics. Few senior politicians have experienced quite so many ups and downs, and none have achieved high office having been blind since birth.

Growing up in poverty, David’s circumstances were made even tougher when at the age of twelve he lost his father in a work accident. Rejecting the dismissal of many, and with the help of evening classes and day release from work, he entered the University of Sheffield and went on to become the youngest ever councillor in the city.

After leading Sheffield City Council (described by a local Tory as ‘The People’s Republic of South Yorkshire’), David entered Parliament and held shadow portfolios in health, education and employment. Then as Labour Party Chair he became a key player in the development of New Labour.

After the 1997 Labour landslide David was appointed Secretary of State for Education and Employment covering education and skills from early years, schooling, post-sixteen skills and apprenticeships, higher education and equal opportunities.

As Home Secretary during one of the most tumultuous periods in recent history he oversaw one of the most controversial departments with responsibility for counter terrorism, immigration and justice. He also served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions where his responsibilities covered retirement income, welfare benefits, the development of Job Centre Plus and work programmes.

David stepped down as an MP after an impressive 28 years. After leaving the Commons, he not only continued his public service in the Lords, but was also appointed Professor of Politics in Practice at the University of Sheffield and Chair of the board of the University of Law.

David maintains a wide range of policy interests including social mobility, cybersecurity, and education. He has roles with a number of charities and as a board member of the National Citizens Service Trust, he has had a long standing interest in citizenship education and the wellbeing of young people.

A regular writer and commentator in the media, David has published The Blunkett Tapes (sub-titled My Life in the Bear Pit) and appeared on Mastermind – where he chose Harry Potter as his specialist subject.

Adam Fidler

Adam Fidler Academy

Adam Fidler is renowned for his passion about the value of first-rate executive support, his inspirational teaching style, and his perspectives on the true role of the Executive Assistant.

Having gained a broad, corporate experience as a Board-level/C-Suite EA/Business Support Manager in a variety of blue-chip organisations, including The Boots Company PLC, Bank of America and as a Private PA to a high-profile Chairman, Adam’s expertise is unrivalled in the field of executive and business support, and the role of the 21st Century Executive Assistant.

He set up his own training consultancy, Adept Executive Consulting Ltd, in 2015, but has been teaching secretaries, PAs and EAs since 2008 for clients such as Pitman Training Group, Jan Jones International and CBM Training (South Africa). He is a regular speaker at industry events and conferences throughout the world.

With an emphasis on teaching practical skills and strategies to continuously improve business performance and effectiveness, Adam Fidler Academy is the first-choice training institution for PAs, EAs and Business Managers.

Dr Monica Seeley

Mesmo Consultancy

About Dr Monica Seeley and Mesmo Consultancy

Dr Seeley (founder of Mesmo Consultancy) is now one of the world’s leading experts on email management to improve personal and business performance and well-being.

Over the past 20 years she has worked with a very wide range of organisations enabling their executives and PAs to regain control of their working day from the inbox rather than letting email drive their day. In doing so Monica has helped them save up to 45 minutes a day dealing with email. Time which can then be devoted to do other critical tasks and used to re-balance the work-life equation. She also has a special focus on human resilience to cyber crime.

Monica was a Visiting Fellow at Cass Business School and University of Bournemouth Business School for over 10 years. She still maintains an interest in the future of digital communications and especially email and gender differences relating to digital communications.

She is author of four books on email management including ‘Brilliant Email’ and ‘Taking Control of The Inbox’ (dedicated to PAs and EAs).

Victoria is a multi-award winning Executive Assistant from the United Kingdom.

She is extremely passionate about the role of the Assistant and actively encourages it as a truly fantastic career choice, after experiencing an extraordinary career journey herself.

Victoria spent the first five years of her career, from the age of sixteen, working her way up the secretarial career ladder. She commenced her career as an Office Junior for a car leasing firm, before moving to a junior Personal Assistant role at her next company. She then became a Secretary, until receiving her first Executive Assistant position at the age of 21, this was for Susan Scott-Parker OBE, CEO of the Business Disability Forum.

Victoria then went onto to join one of the world’s leading specialist recruitment firms as an Executive Assistant and shortly after joining, went on to set up an award winning ‘Internal PA Network’ in November 2009.

In 2008 Victoria was a Finalist in the Hays/Times PA of the Year and in October 2011 Victoria received ‘Outstanding Contribution to the PA Profession’ at the Mayfair PA Magazine awards.

Victoria has appeared as a judge on many prestigious awards for Assistants, most recently Wearethecity.com ‘Rising Star Awards’.

Victoria contributes to industry press on a regular basis and has appeared on the BBC Breakfast Show, BBC Radio 5 and in newspapers/magazines such as The Times, The Daily Mail, London Business Matters, People Management Magazine (CIPD), and Management Magazine to name but just a few.

In 2015 Victoria was placed into the City AM Newspapers ‘Women in the City Power List’ and was placed in the top 30. She was the first Executive Assistant to be recognised in a list such as this.

Victoria regularly presents and trains Assistants at events and conferences across the UK and in the past spoke internationally including; Belgium, Dubai, Ireland, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, South Africa and the USA. Currently her focus is on UK initiatives only.

Sherie Pointon

Admin Advantage

Sherie has been an administrative professional for over 15 years in the public and not-for-profit sector, and has held positions such as the President of the Association of Administrative Professionals NZ Inc (AAPNZ) Wellington group, Executive Officer at the Institute of Public Administration NZ (IPANZ) and Business Manager at Ako Aotearoa, the National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence as well as a range of administration roles.
Sherie has also been a finalist two years running in the prestigious Administrative Professional of the Year Award.

Sherie is a popular speaker at conferences throughout New Zealand and has an interactive and fun training style that allows participants to expand their skills and knowledge.

Jordan Harry

StudyFast

Jordan is a memory and speed reading coach, and in the past few years, he has taught over 10,000 people from 147 countries speed reading, memory and public speaking.

When he was 10 he had a speech impediment which left him struggling with speaking in public and reading.

He now reads seven times faster than the average reader (1,500 words per minute), the CEO at StudyFast, an international public speaker and delivers workshops to help others to unlock their potential to learn anything faster.

You can learn faster and he will show you how.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Please note this conference is restricted to paying members of EPAA only. Please also note, you need to be a paying member for the six months prior to the conference date to be eligible for a place.

You will need to supply a valid membership number to ensure confirmation of booking. This conference is being offered as part of our new membership packages and prices for 2019 and is offered free or charge for our members.

We offer a set amount of places available on a first come, first serve basis to our membership. Once the places have been confirmed, we will then operate a wait list.

We reserve the right to cancel a delegate place, whereby membership renewal is overdue or remains unpaid or you do not meet the criteria above.

Places cancelled within one calendar month of the conference date will incur a £50.00 charge to cover lost time of the Association and its staff and volunteers. Please do read our full cancellation terms upon your booking being confirmed.

BOOKING FORM:

Please note your place is not confirmed until you receive an email from the EPAA Team and you return terms and condition fully signed. The form below must be completed in order to commence this process.

CILIPis close to a number of underground stations: Goodge Street (Northern Line), Tottenham Court Road (Central and Northern Lines), Warren Street (Victoria and Northern Lines), Russell Square (Piccadilly Line), and Euston Square (Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and Circle Lines). Euston, King’s Cross and St Pancras main line stations are all within easy reach.

As we are delivering this conference to our membership free of charge, we are asking each delegate to bring 1 item each with them to the conference (such as a tin of food, jar of coffee, washing powder). All donations will be taken straight to the Trussell Trust Food Bank in Euston, London after the conference has concluded. A list of required items will be sent to all delegates a few weeks prior to the conference taking place. We think this is a small ask in comparison to what delegates will receive through the day!

To find out more about the work of The Trussell Trust please visit – https://www.trusselltrust.org/

Please note EPAA Members who are part of our optional CPD programme will receive 10 CPD credits as part of your attendance on this day.

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